Jonathan Dos Santos in Martino's plans at Barcelona

By Tom Marshall

The 23-year-old Mexican international appeared headed for a move to Real Sociedad, but that may no longer be the case with new manager Gerardo Martino in place.

Mexican midfielder Jonathan Dos Santos’ pending move to Real Sociedad appears to be less of a sure thing after incoming Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino signaled the 23-year-old is in his plans for the upcoming season.

“I’m counting on the whole squad that Barcelona has today and evidently Jonathan is included,” Martino said in his first press conference as coach of the Blaugrana on Thursday.

Dos Santos has struggled to get any regular playing time for Barcelona’s first team and reports from Spain suggested a deal was in place for the Monterrey-born player to join Carlos Vela in San Sebastian. That was put on hold when Tito Vilanova unfortunately had to step down as Barca coach due to his battle with cancer and the search for a new manager began.

Dos Santos had also been linked to Celta Vigo as well as Sociedad, as he aimed to leave Barcelona in order to get minutes in La Liga ahead of next summer’s World Cup in Brazil – his father’s home country.

Dos Santos did get some encouragement when he played the first half of Barcelona’s 2-0 friendly loss against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, but the chances of him getting a regular starting spot in a midfield featuring Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets remain minimal.